Collaborative
Workspace
Program
FY19 ANNUAL REPORT
About the Collaborative Workspace Program
MassDevelopment is pleased to submit an annual report for the Collaborative Workspace Program – a program
designed to accelerate the pace of new business formation, job creation, and entrepreneurial activity in
Massachusetts communities by supporting infrastructure that fuels community-based innovation.
Funding to support the Collaborative Workspace Program in fiscal year 2019 originated from state capital authorizations of $1.5
million. An additional $655,000 was contributed from the Barr Foundation – a partner in helping to cultivate and advance new
ideas. This amount represents the second installment from the Barr Foundation of a three-year $1,965,000 grant awarded to
MassDevelopment to support the program.
An organization can apply for a seed grant of up to $25,000 to plan and study the feasibility of a new collaborative workspace, or a
fit-out grant of up to $250,000 for building improvements and/or equipment purchases. Both types of grants require a one-to-one
match. Eligible spaces include artists’ studios, collaborative kitchens, coworking spaces, innovation centers, and makerspaces.
This report summarizes 28 new awards made in fiscal year 2019 (eight seed grants; 20 fit-out grants) totaling $2,200,387. Since
its inception in the fall of 2014, the program has made 105 awards (39 seed grants; 66 fit-out grants) totaling $6,589,131 to 82
organizations in 44 communities across the state.
Annual surveys submitted by the grantees detail that the Collaborative Workspace Program has activated 240,195 square feet of
space. Grantees have also added 3,771 new member/users since implementing their grant-funded projects, and total reported
member/users now stands at 8,719. These spaces continue to respond to member needs by adding new programs, educational
tools, and networking opportunities.
Another Castle, Greenfield 1
Fit-Out Grants
LaunchSpace, Athol - $105,000
LaunchSpace currently operates a coworking space at the Orange Innovation Center and is adding a second
location in Athol. The new space, located in a former school, will operate as a community kitchen and
coworking space, providing opportunities for workforce education and development. The grant will be used
to replace the building’s heating system.
Artists for Humanity, Boston - $250,000
This collaborative maker studio, located in the newly expanded EpiCenter, will be equipped with tools and
technology to help Boston-area youth produce transformative art and deliver high-quality creative services.
The grant will be used for third-party labor and materials for workspace improvements, including interior fit-
Artists for Humanity
out costs, soft costs, and equipment purchases.
Fab@CIC, Boston - $33,466
Fab@CIC is a digital fabrication lab and makerspace that provides public access to tools used for fabrication
and technical invention. Upgrades to the facility will include additional workstations, graphic designs for
visual placemaking, purpose-built material and tool storage solutions, and movable partition walls to help
convert the space for events.
The Umbrella Community Arts Center Makerspace, Concord - $85,000
The Umbrella Community Arts Center is creating a makerspace that will support artists, students, and
entrepreneurs as they explore and innovate. The grant will be used for facility buildout and new equipment
for a digital arts and design room, makerspace classroom, fabrication lab, and production shop.
Fab@CIC
Red13 Studios, Framingham - $135,763
BamRock Entertainment’s Red13 Studios is a membership-based collaborative for musicians,
artists, videographers, photographers, and other creatives. Funds will be used to build and furnish
additional spaces including a collaborative visual studio, dedicated coworking and community
space, and for the purchase of new and/or used equipment.
Studio for Integrated Craft, Great Barrington - $147,572
Studio for Integrated Craft is a collaborative workspace in a repurposed mill, founded
with the goal of fostering a professional creative community. The grant will be used for
renovations including architectural, structural, and electrical engineering; removal of
heavy existing machinery; masonry work; and roof repairs.
Red13 Studios 2
 Creatorpult Makerspace, Haverhill - $25,602
Fit-Out Grants (continued)
Creatorpult Makerspace currently offers classes, equipment, and tools for 3D printing; electronics
troubleshooting/prototyping; model, miniature, and 3D print painting; airbrushing; and wood carving. Funds
will be used for new equipment including industrial 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, a robotics lab,
and furnishings.
60 Vibe, Lawrence - $89,500
The coworking space will use grant funds for the repair and remodeling of its historic mill space, and to help
acquire office equipment, work tables, conference-room furniture and fixtures, common-area finishes, and
Bluetooth-accessible locks.
Brickyard Collaborative, Lynn - $56,000
The Brickyard Collaborative is proposing a hybrid makerspace/incubator/coworking kitchen in Lynn. Funds
will be used for buildout and equipment acquisition.
Creatorpult Makerspace
BoroBot, Middleborough - $7,500
The BoroBot makerspace will educate and train members in CAD Design, 3D printing, CNC machining,
electronics, and programming microcontrollers in the pursuit of a broad-spectrum innovation pathway to
employment or entrepreneurship. Funding will be used to acquire equipment including 3D printers, a CNC
machine, and an alarm system.
WHALE Co-Creative Center, New Bedford - $14,165
The WHALE Co-Creative Center (CO+) is a 10,000-square-foot development designed to establish a
footprint for creative enterprise in New Bedford’s historic downtown to connect, support, and celebrate
artists and cultural entrepreneurship. Funds will be used for acoustic and sound isolation structural
components, as well as IT, photography, and vinyl, paper, and mat cutters.
WHALE Co-Creative Center
Empow Studios, Newton - $89,931
Empow Studios is a newly opened community learning and innovation space focused on
AR/VR technologies and related fields of 3D design and robotics among others. Funds will be
used for the construction of a control room, storage, and equipment.
Zea Mays Printmaking, Northampton - $92,500
Zea Mays Printmaking is a studio, gallery, educational facility, and research center with a
focus on sustainable printmaking. Zea Mays offers workshops, exhibitions, and
residencies. The grant will fund HVAC upgrades, a new letterpress, screen-printing studios,
print storage, and equipment.
Zea Mays Printmaking 3
 Provincetown Commons, Provincetown - $231,372
Fit-Out Grants (continued)
Provincetown Commons is a hybrid economic development center, coworking space, makerspace, and arts-
related studio. Educational programs provide economic development support for startups, artists, designers,
and small-business owners. Funds will complete the renovation of a 10,000-square-foot building and help
the organization purchase furnishings and IT equipment.
Incubate Quincy 1400, Quincy - $75,000
The Quincy Center for Innovation coworking space is proposing a move to Quincy Square and will use funds
for furniture, IT equipment, and lighting.
Nibble Kitchen, Somerville - $61,610
Nibble Kitchen is a coworking space that hosts the Nibble Culinary Entrepreneurship Program, developed
and run by the Somerville Arts Council. Nibble offers licensed kitchen, vending, and teaching space to
emerging culinary entrepreneurs from the area’s diverse immigrant communities. Grant funding will help with
the installation of a full commercial kitchen. Nibble Kitchen
Valley Venture Mentors, Springfield - $142,000
Valley Venture Mentors provides mentoring to entrepreneurs and startups. The funds will be used for
furnishings, equipment, and a security system for the Valley Venture Hub coworking space.
526 Main Street Partners, Worcester - $250,000
526 Main Street Partners is developing an arts-related studio space and creative retail incubator. The
developer will use grant funds to renovate, outfit, and equip the studio.
Becker College, Worcester - $21,400
Grant funding will be used to create the first-ever eSports lab of its kind in central Massachusetts.
The project will also add capacity to the AR/VR lab located at the New Ventures Center at the
Valley Venture Mentors
Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI) within Becker College’s Colleen C. Barrett
Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
CreativeHub Worcester, Worcester - $94,506
CreativeHub Worcester is building a makerspace where artists, entrepreneurs, innovators,
hobbyists, and students can come together and work in a dynamic ecosystem. Funds will be
used for construction, furnishings, and equipment.
CreativeHub Worcester 4
Seed Grants
The Record Co. Cultural Alliance of Medfield
Boston - $25,000 Medfield - $25,000
The Record Co. is an affordable coworking space for musicians. Grant Funding will allow the nonprofit Cultural Alliance of Medfield to assess
funds will assist with pre-build design costs for the organization’s new two unoccupied buildings at the former Medfield State Hospital for
recording studio and rehearsal suites. redevelopment. The campus will include a makerspace, commercial
kitchen, visual arts studios, arts-related space, live/work units, a
NewVue Communities performing arts venue, classrooms, and outdoor event space.
Fitchburg - $25,000
NewVue Communities is building the Fitchburg Arts Community, a 62- Newton Innovation Center
unit mixed-income artist-preference housing development and studio Newton - $25,000
space located at the site of the former BF Brown School. The project The Newton Innovation Center is seeking a new home and will use seed
includes an arts campus that connects to the Fitchburg Art Museum and funding for construction cost verification and operational models.
downtown Fitchburg. This grant will be used for site engineering.
Wellspring Cooperative Corporation
Berkshire Community College Springfield - $25,000
Great Barrington - $25,000 Grant funding will support a feasibility study for a 3,000-square-foot
Berkshire Community College is proposing a test kitchen and coworking shared commercial kitchen that would incubate new food businesses,
space at its South County Center on Main Street in Great Barrington. process its own food products, and develop a “Food Business 101”
Funds will be used for a feasibility analysis, engineering, and design costs. training program for entrepreneurs.
Mill City Grows Alternatives Unlimited/ValleyCAST
Lowell - $20,000 Whitinsville - $22,500
Mill City Grows is using funds to hire a consultant to guide them in Alternatives Unlimited and its arts and culture subsidiary, ValleyCAST,
developing an Urban Food & Sustainability Center in partnership with will use funding to undertake a feasibility study and strategic plan for the
the Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust. The feasibility study will explore Whitin Mill Complex, as well as other property operated by Alternatives
the viability of purchasing the last privately owned farm in Lowell and Unlimited in the Blackstone Valley. The project seeks wider use of
developing the Center, which will house an incubator space for food these sites in collaboration with artists, community groups, educational
entrepreneurs, gardeners, and educators. institutions, and entrepreneurs for the long term.
5
Innovation Stories that Inspire
Another Castle – Greenfield
Jacob is a Greenfield native with a degree in computer science from the University of Massachusetts,
Amherst. He was looking for opportunities in game development when he came across a press release
highlighting Another Castle, a coworking space that caters to game developers and designers in the
Pioneer Valley. This led to a connection with anchor member HitPoint Studios – where he is now a full-
time employee.
Greenspace Cowork – Greenfield
Bueno Social and Facta Studio, two small firms with company memberships specializing in digital Another Castle
marketing and web development, respectively, were introduced at Greenspace CoWork and have since
begun collaborating to win new shared work that they could not have obtained independently.
Brickyard Collaborative – Lynn
The Brickyard Collaborative, a hybrid makerspace and innovation incubator, opened its doors to
members shortly after receiving a Collaborative Workspace Program grant. Within two weeks, 20
members signed on to take advantage of the creative co-op and available technology – a powerful
factor in building membership.
BoroBot – Middleborough
Drew, BoroBot’s first user, has opened his own 3D printing company and has already completed
two jobs and is finishing up a third. Drew had no previous experience in CAD/3D printing before he
Brickyard Collaborative
attended one of BoroBot’s classes, but now he has a viable small business poised for growth.
Provincetown Commons – Provincetown
Paul is an emerging artist who had been creating artwork in his small apartment until he obtained
a membership at Provincetown Commons. The studio space gave him room to create larger,
more substantial paintings and offered him an opportunity for professional growth. Paul
headlined his first art show at Four Eleven Gallery in June 2019 and Provincetown Commons
facilitated a collaboration with a local business, where one of Paul’s designs is being printed
on t-shirts for sale at a local gift shop.
BoroBot 6
Innovation Stories that Inspire (continued)
Greentown Labs – Somerville
Greentown Labs in Somerville provided a west coast company in the development stages of electric
rocket propulsion with a safe, affordable place to test its technology. The company has since relocated
to Boston where all of its R&D is now conveniently under one roof.
Nibble Kitchen – Somerville
After completing the Nibble Entrepreneurship Program at Nibble Kitchen in Somerville, two
entrepreneurs, originally from Caracas, Venezuela, will be opening their o